LIKE every other full time professional football club, Nationwide Conference leaders Chester City will spend their Christmas Day morning training, preparing for the important clutch of matches ahead.
City boss Mark Wright had considered taking his players to a nearby hotel tomorrow night, but he has elected to allow the squad to spend the evening with their families: "There are so many distractions at this time of the year, and I had thought about taking the lads away to prepare for the Boxing Day game, however we have decided against it," he said.
"This is always a crucial time in the season. We had an excellent win at Tamworth, I have told the players we must not undo that good work by lacklustre performances over this period."
City, four points clear at the top of the Conference table, will be endeavouring to pull away from the chasing pack over the festive period by taking maximum points from their three holiday matches.
The first game is against Leigh RMI on Boxing Day at the Deva Stadium, followed by the reverse fixture at Hilton Park on New Year's Day, and a home clash with Gravesend two days later.
Chester, who are expecting a crowd of around 3,000 for the Leigh game, will have virtually a full-strength squad to select from, the only absentee will be goalkeeper Wayne Brown who broke a bone in his foot during training 10 days ago.
Meanwhile, striker Mark Beesley, released by Chester two weeks ago, has joined fellow Conference promotion-chasers Hereford United.
Beesley was also spoken to by Northwich Victoria and Leigh RMI, but chose to join the Edgar Street club who are managed by former Wolves and Aston Villa boss Graham Turner.
"I tried to get him last season, but we were both in contention for a play-off place, so Chester wouldn't allow him to come," said Turner.
